newton



H. B. NEWTON `TooL FEED MECHANISM Feb. 22,1927.. 1,618,463 l Filed Dec. 8, 1923 y-3 Sheets-Sheet 1 zal @Y www 2 'LMSAGS Feb. 22, 1927.

H. B. NEWTON TOOL FEED MECHANISM Filed bec. 8, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2A 5K HTTrs y. Patented' Feb. 22, 192'?.

narran star aises HARRY B. NE/VTGN, OF ROCKFRD, ILLN 01S, ASSIGNOR TO ROCKFORD MACHINE TOOL COMPANY, Ol ROCKFORD, ILLNOIS, .ANCORPRATION OF LLINOIS.

TOOL-FEED MECHANSM.

Application led December 8, 1923. Serial No. 679,488.

This invention relates to tool-feed mechanism of the kind adapted for machine tools in which it is desired to advance a tool slide or a tool-carrying head with respect to the work in short step-by-step feed movements and in rapid traverse movements. My invention, in its present embodiment, is particularly designed for use on aplaner. h i

The primary object is to provide a simplified and improved tool-feed mechanism adapted to be applied to horizontal, vertical or angular feed tools for transmitting either step-by-step feed or rapid traverse movement thereto.

Another object is to provide novel means for varying the step-by-step feed movement so that the tool or tools as the casey may be, will be advanced for heavier or lighter cuts, according to the nature of the work at` hand. f

Still another object resides in the provision of feed mechanism of the character referred to in which the feed movement is derived from uniform reciprocation of an operating` part and the variable speed is oby tained through the agency of a no vel lostmotion mechanism, including an adjustable part adapted to be set by the operator for producing the several feed movements, which differ as to duration and consequently as to the distance the tool is advanced.

I have also aimed to incorporate with the feed mechanism, means for transmitting rapid traverse movement tothe tool or tools; and Vto provide a simple control whereby either the feed or rapid traverse connections may be established at will.

A furtherl object is to provide a feed mechanism of the character described which will be thoroughly practical and which may be manufactured at a comparatively low cost. y

Other ohjectsand attendant advantages will be appreciated by those skilled in this art as the invention becomes better understood bywreference to the following description when. considered in connection with the accompanying` drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front end elevation of a planer equipped with tool-feed mechanism embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view transversely of the planer, along the drive shaft at the top thereof;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the feed mechanism;

FigplL is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line i-4 of Fig. 3; Y.

Fig. 5 Vis a vertical section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4L; y y' Fig. 6 is a detailsection taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3; A

F 7 is a section taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; and f Fig. 8 is a detail view showing the graduations for reference in setting the mechanism for feed movements of different length.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be observed that I yhave for purpose of illustration embodied my invention in a planer, but that only such parts of the planer are shown as are necessary for an understanding of the present invention. It will also be noted that the feed mechanism is applied to the tool-carrying head on the cross-rail;'but it willbe ymanifest as the invention becomes better understood, that said mechanism may be applied to either `oneor more tool slides or tool-carrying' heads, whether mounted on' the crossrail or on the side columns, or in any other position. Furthermore, my invention is not limited to this particular type of machine tool, but is generallyapplicable wherever similar feed movements are desired.

The planer, shown briefly in Fig. 1, is of a conventional design, comprising @an elongated bed 11, al work table 12 mounted to reciprocate on the bed, a horizontal crossrail 13 above the table for vertical adjustment on ways 14 on side columns l5 which are rigidly joined at their upper ends by a top plate 16, and tool-carrying heads designated generally by 17, mounted for hor1- zontal adjustment on ways 18 on the cross rail. Said heads are adapted to be traversed horizontally by means of feed screws 19 and Q1 held against lengthwise translation with respect to the cross-rail and threadingly engaged in their respective tool heads. Each of the heads 17 and 17 ,isy adapted for carrying one or more tools (not shown) for planing work on the table wheny the latter is reciprocated by mechanism, not shown, but which is well understood in this art.

The feed screws are adapted to be turned either by hand or by power for traversing the tool heads on the cross rail, the present invention hav-ing reference to the pcwer-o`p erated means for turning said feed screws.

' Part of the power-operated mechanism for this purpose is, however, well'lrnown in the prior art and will bejrst briefly described.

Suitable mechanism is employed for reciprocating a feed-transmitting member, "t

ab present in tlie formv of a rack 22, in timed relation with the reciprocation of the worktable. rifhis mechanism comprises a driving AcgcarriQ- which revolves ina counter* clockwise direction viewing 3, when't'he tablemoves in the cutting stroke,V and in a cloclrwisev fdir ctionv in the return stroke. `Irhisegeardrives a friction .head 24 through the agency of an intermediate gesti-'25; and

said head is adapt/edto be intermittently 26. volvesV in a clockwise direction and the head Y' 2li, and consequently the friction ring 26,l

engaged by a friction ring .26 forl oscillating .a housing 27,1to which is .attached .a wrist pin 28 `operatii'igthrou'gh connecting links 259 Iand 3l for reciprocatingthe rack 22. The

in driv-v ring 26 normally gri is the head 241 ing connection and is adapted lto be released .therefrom Vin an expanding action transmitted by an expander This expander -is -avdaptedffto travel between opposed stops 33 and :2A by rotative movement of head 242e, and'is adapted to. be arrested by said stops and,l tiltedthereby for expanding the ring For example, the driving gear 23 rewill be revolved in a counter-clockwise rdirection from ythe position shown in lfi'ill lines in Fig. 3, until .the expander 32 strikes the stop 34C .and releases the friction ring from .said head. During/this rotative movement, about lSOdegrees, the connecting links 29 .and 3l which are connected together at one end by va radius linlr 35, will move the rack 22 downwardly a lined distance, as will be obvious'. Whenvthe gear 23 is reversed with reversal of the worlftabldthe friction ring` will be moved in-a'fcloc'liwise direction untilV 4stopped by the expander 32 striking the stopV 33., thereby imparting an upward strolreto the rack 22. It will be manifest that each Stroke -of the rack will beV uniform as to the extent of its travel and that the rae: is re- .ciprocated in timed". .relation wit-li the work-table. The foregoing fmechanism is known in the priorv art; and my Ypresent invention, while tilizing such njieohanisii'i or the equivalent, has Ymore particular reference to mechanism operated by the rack 22.

-for transmitting' feed movement to either or both of the feed screws land 2l for traversing their respective tool heads in either direction.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 3

and .4, it will be seein Vthat in'one end of the rail 18, l have mounted for rotation a pinion A'36 in V mesh with the rack 22 and having dental clutch teeth 37 'in one end. A feed shaft 38 concentric with the pinion 36 and journaled at 39 `andl in the rail and said`V pinion respectively, is adaptedl to be con-v nected to said pinionthroiigh the agency of a shiftable clutch element 42 having clutch teeth -t coiiiiplemental to the teeth 437. Y 'Said l ent l2 is adapted to bc shifted means-o ioni' i led in a bracket which willV be deelied a control lever 116. The" shaft and ion 36 are licidyby suitable end-'thrust or surfaces againstendwise displace- 38 endsq at oneendbeyond thefeiid of thev c and carries onsaid `extendedendV a loose feed gear e?, lined disk t8 `and aloose dislr i9? both the 4i? and disk 49 beingV recessed for the vreception of the disks-.8, .as shown plainly in Fig. 4.. i split friction ring 5l embracing and frictiona-lly engaging .a hub on the gear lland'held .against rotation `by connection with .the frail 13, serves to hold the gear t7 against rotation by reason frictional contactv with adjoin iisg parts, except when positively :moved as i The disk 48.

will be presently described.

nient in thei respective bearings. Theshaft a shifter arm elli lined to a Shaft fed hereinafter, to which/shaft 'is at- 'Y has a. peripheral projection or lug 52 adapt? ed to me va projecting art ion the gear" 4t? foi transmitting rotative"movementlin co:inter-'clockwise direction viewinglig. 3,

oiii'vsaid disk to said Rotative :moi-rethe proiectiiig` part 55 greater or less distance. from the proj tion-52, Vwhich conseqiiciitly allows a corresponding lost motion the inovei'nent'transmitted by the disks to the gear-li. rFhe piirpose offthis construcnt from the feed shaft '38 to the feed gear fis the parts areshown in fulllines, a. itantially d" Y reen the d,

. tion is. therefore, to trantiiiit variabile movelcs and the feed gearn tliiis y any of the holes bet-n-'eenqits present po ion and the projection `the pri'ijerting part will be movedV or` positioned a corresponding distance from said projection k52. thereby decreasing' the rotative movement rimparte-d "to the feedV gear the amount of the lost iiioti-on betweei-i theV E (il Sii.

invit in the opposite direction is trans-l in any yof the holes the latter V iii-s adjustment obviously vpositions i U0 1ect connection is establishedV g .said a maximum number .ees in each direction. By setting'the and the feed gearif Thejnumber and iso.V

`the adistment; and bv referencev to Ifio. 6

it will be observed that the disk 49 has a pointer which co-operates with graduations on a collar 59 fixed to the shaft 38.

The gear 47 transmits feed movement to either one or both of the feed screws through mechanism which willv now be described. Said gear 47 meshes with a gear 61 suitably journaled on the cross-rail,` and this gear 61 meshes with gears 62 and 63 loosely revoluble on the feed screws 19 and 21, respectively. Each of the gears 61, 62 and 63 is provided with a ratchetY device well known in this art for. connecting itto its respective supporting shaft. for vtransmitting.rotary motion thereto in either direction. The construction of said ratchet devices being similar, a description of one will suffice. A collar 64 fixed to the supporting shaft ,or feed screw 19, carries a pivoted pawl having dianietrically A opposed teeth 65 and 66, adapted to be turned by a handle 67 to bring either tooth into operative relation with the internal teeth 68 in the gear 62. As the pawl is shown in Figs. 3 and 7, the gear 62 imparts rotative 'movementto the feed screw 19 only when revolved in a counter-clockwise direction. It follows that upon movement of the feed gear 47 in a clockwise direction viewing Fig. 3, it will with the parts as shown, transmit feed movement tothe feed screw 19 in a counter-clockwise direction, and that upon the reverse oscillation of said 'feed gear the gear 62 will ride idly over the ratchet '65. Suitable means is provided for yieldingly holding` the pawl in either of its set positions. as is well understood in this art. rIhus it will be seen that by setting the pawl so as to bring either of its teeth 65 or 66 into operative relation with the gear or driving element 67, the feed screw 19 may be turned in either direction in step-by-step movements by the lfeed mechanism just described.y

' I have also provided mechanism co-operating with the feed mechanism for transmitting rapid traverse movement to the gear 47 and consequently to the feed screws, which will now be described. At the side -of the machine adjoining said feed mechanism, I have provided a verticalrapid traverse shaft 69 held against axial translation, and in this instance continuously driven from its upper end either forward or reverse, by any suitable means. As shown in the-shaft 7 respect to the pulley 73.

,byV operation of the control lever 46.

' gears 74 and 75, these gears being loose on 2 and the gear `74 being fixed with By means of a shiftable clutch element 76adapted to be shifted by operation of a hand lever 77, either .gear 74 or 75 (which revolvekin opposite directions) may be connected to the shaft 72 for driving the rapid traverse shaft forward or reverse.y I have provided gearing operable between the shaft 69 and the gear 47 for driving the latter gear ata speed considerably faster -than the feed speed for rapidly traversing the tool head or heads on the cross-rail. This gearing includes a clutch adapted to be shifted by means of the hand lever 46 described above. Said gearing comprises` a spur gear 78, Fig. 3, concentric with the shaft 69 and journaled in a bracket 81 having a vertical portion 82 bolted to the adjacent end of the cross-rail. rl"he gear 7 S is vadapted to be connected to the shaft 69 by means of a clutch yelement 83 splined on said shaft and shiftable by the control lever 46.- .'Ihis lever, supported on the bracket 81, for connecting the rapid traverse shaft 69 to the gear 78, when shifted downwardly connects thepinion 36 to the feed shaft 38, as above mentioned. The gear 7 8 meshes with a gear S4 journaled in the p bracket, S1 and having `formed integral therewith a bevel gear 85 which meshes with a complementalgear 86; fixed toa shaft S7 which is in driving connection with the feed gear 47 through the pinionSS. The screw passing throughv the gear 85 lforms no part of the present invention. f n

lVhen the machine is lin operation, the rack 22- is being reciprocated in a uniform stroke. The rapid traverse. shaft may remain idle or may be drivenin either direction according to the will of the operator, as determined by the position ofthe lever 77. The operator may engage either the feed or rapid traverse driving mechanism This will transmit rotative movement to the gear V47 either in oscillatory feed movements or in continuous rotary movements in either direction according to which clutch is engagedk by said control lever 46 and according to the position of the lever 77.v ySuch rotative movement of the gear 47 will bey transmitted to veither one or both of the feed screws 19 and 21according to theposition of their respective ratchet devices. The duration of the feed movement will be determined by the position of the plunger 54 on the disk 48, as explained above. The setting of the plunger' 54 for diderent lengths of feed may be lquicklyand easily done; and this variablefeed mechanism. is especially conducive to simplicity in the, construction and operation of this type' of feed mechanism. It is believed that the purpose of the feed and rapidtraverse movements are well understoodbythose skilled iii this art, and Ithat description in that direction is unnec; K 'essary it should be' noted, however, that my improvements are not necessarily limited tothe'rcombination shown herein, that is, in

4coniuii'ction with a cross-rail, but are ap- Vplicable to Vany tool slide or tool-carrying yhead. regardless of its position or location.y

ft isfbelieved lthat the foregoing conveys a clear undcrstanding` .of the obj'ectspii'efaced above, and while l have Villustrated but Va 'single working cmbodin'ieiit, it should be 'understood that vari-cus changes might be zmade fin the construction and arrangement movement,

fwithout departing from the spirit and scope of'v the inventionas eirpressedin the claims.

` ll claim: .f y

l. 'Feed mechanism of the character described, comprising, in combination, a feed screw, a gear having means for connecting it to the Vfeed-screw for revolving the latter,

ya feed shaft lconcentric with said gear and 'equipped with al 4disk .arrangedto turn with tarily adjustable with respect to the first disk and feed shafty and having a stop meinjber arranged to be set by such adgustinent to vary the feed .ni'o-ifeinent, a stop member on the first disk, and a part on thege'ar disposed betvveenand arranged to Vbe operated by said stop' members for transmitting feed means for imparting rapid 'traverse `movement yto the saine gear, kand 'Y for imparting rapid traverse movement to' the said gear, and a single control for said 'clutchesf F Y VVmeans foifoptionally putting intoy operation said. rapid *traverse and feed move-l ment Vineans.

2.A Feed mechanism as set forth in, claim 1, lin which the means for imparting oscillatory movement to the feed shaft operates through the' agency of a clutch, and including means alsov operating Vthrough a clutch Feed mechanism of and means for reciprocatingfit, a pinion v i .meshing with therack, a feed shaft equipped y with la fixed disk, a clutch for connecting Vthe feed shaft to said pinion, whereby said 'shaft land its rdisk will be oscillated by re-v .ciprocation Iof the rack, agearlooseon the feed shaft, a feed screw adaptedr togbe revolved by said gear, and means operative between said disk and gear for transn'iitting variable feed movement to the feed screw,

including means for in'iparting'rapid t-ravers'e movement to said gear whenrsaid clutch is disengaged.

41; .Feed mechanism of 4 thecharacter dei the characterv desci-'ibed, comprising in combination a rack yvisualise scribed, comprising in combination, a feed screw, a gear adapted for imparting rotative movement to said screw, a rapid traverse gear meshing with said gearr for.. Y

transmitting rapid traverse movementl to the feed screw, a disk concentric with the first mentioned gear and having a lperiplieral projection, means for iiifiparting uniform oscillatory movement to said disk, disk concentric with and rotarily adjustableV on the first mentioned disk -andf having projection, said projections constituting op'- posed abutinents, and` a part on the1 first mentioned gear located interinediatelsaid' `proJections and adapted -to be. operated thereby.

Feed n'iechanismfas set forth in` claim 4, in which the connection between tliefeedscrew and theiirst mentioned gear includes clutch adapted to be set for transmitting rotative movement ineither direction to the feed screw.

(i. Feed mechanism of tlieccliaracter vde-VV scribed comprising a feed screw, a gear revoluble about the feed screwf forY turning it, a rapid tra-versc gear, a feedgear in- Y ternie'diateand in mesh with said gears, a

feedshaft concentic with said feed gear,V

means for imparting rotative feed move-4 ment to said shaft, and means operativebeanadjustable means for producing` lost motionfor varying' the degree of feed movement transmitted to saidfeed gear.

cui tween said shaft andfeedgear for'transi'nit-V' ting feed movement to tlielatter including Y 7. Feed mechanism of the characterV described, comprisingV a feed screw, afeed` gear for turning the saine, aufeed shaft concentricwith the feed gear, a pair ofrelatively adjustable 4drive transi'nitting parts ony the feedshaft, a part on the feed gear located intermediate. said drive transmitting vparts and `adapted to v bev moved by.Y the latterffor oscillating ythe feed .gear variable degreesy accordingk tothe `adjustment of saidV parts, a rapid traverse gear, and means whereby viic relative move-nient will be imparted to said v feed gear either from saidfeed through the intern'iediary of said adjustable parts or from said rapid traverse gear.

S. lIn a machine tool `of thecharacter described, the combination of a driven shaft arranged Sto .be driven continuously in either rotative movement to said screw, independent gear connections between each-ofl said shafts and said feed screw, throughsaid last n'ientioned operating gear,'each of said 'gear connections including` a shiftable 4clutchfa"v reversible pawl and ratchet inechanisin'for,

driving the feed screw from said operating gear in either direction from the oscillating driven shaft in step by step `feed impulses, said mechanism serving-,to drive lthe feed shaft i direction, an oscillating ldriven shaft, feed screw, an operating gear adapted to iinpartf screw continuously in one direction when operated from the continuously driven shaft through said operating gear, and a single manually shiftable clutch operating lever for optionally engaging either of the two clutches to connect either the oscillating or the continuously driven shaft with the feed screw.

9. In a machine tool as set forth in claim 10 8, the provision of a reciprocatory rack having a uniform stroke, a gear meshing there with to communicate oscillatory movement to the oscillating driven shaft, and means including a variable lost motion driving connection between said oscillatingv driven shaft and said vgear for operating said feed screw whereby to vary the rate of step by step feed substantially as and 'for the purpose described.

HARRY B. NEWTON. 

